So, let's talk about Netflix's most recent take on mental illness, To the Bone. After the somewhat ineffective and what many psychologists called "dangerous," 13 Reasons Why, I was a little skeptical of this foray into the seemingly contagious and easily triggering world of eating disorders. As someone who struggled with anorexia for many years, and still does, I was surprised to find that they got a lot of things right, and I was both pleasantly surprised and forced to take a hard look at my eating decisions over the years.
This movie was better than 13 Reasons Why right from the get-go. The show was written, produced, and acted by many people who have personally struggled with eating disorders, so there were many nuances to this presentation that one could not find by research alone. These people have lived it, which made the presentation much more authentic than if it were just based on a book.
Personally, one of the things that rang truest to me was the reference to the social media platform Tumblr. When I was first developing my eating disorder, I would turn to Tumblr to find pictures, diet tips, and "thinspo" if you will. Tumblr was, unfortunately, a haven for many people in the throes of ED; a place where they could find fellow sufferers who would help each other lose weight and support each other on their "weight loss journey".
Personally, I saw a post about a girl who only ate one grape a day, and that became my new goal, and several other people's goals as well. The fact that Eli, the main character portrayed by Lily Collins, was an artist who posted pro ED artwork on Tumblr, and many of the other sufferers in the movie found inspiration in her artwork, was very authentic to me.
Another aspect I appreciated was the representation of eating disorders. In the treatment group, there was a male sufferer, which many people forget about, and also a more heavyset girl, because you don't have to be stick thin to have an eating disorder. I was pleased to see that they had Luke be a ballet dancer because dance is one of the professions most riddled with eating disorders. Another little detail that could easily have been missed making a movie like this was that people were always bundled up in sweaters, hats, and blankets.
People with eating disorders are freezing, and this detail added a lot to the authenticity of the movie. When Lily Collins' body was shown, stick thin and bones galore, it was a sight that could easily be obsessed over and fetishized by ED sufferers. However, every time we saw her, another character, a nurse, her mom, Keanu Reeves (lol), would say how unattractive and ugly her body looked because it was so thin. Never once did her body look "ideal," nor was it made to look that way.
In the ultimate scene of 13 Reasons Why, when Hannah completes suicide, her hair and skin is perfect, she's in a clean and well-decorated bathroom, she looks beautiful. The bodies of these sufferers are portrayed as just the opposite, in quite a visceral and shockingly ugly way, because ED isn't pretty. This movie was not afraid to show that ED doesn't make sense logically. It doesn't make sense that someone who is starving themselves to the point that they have to have a feeding tube would be devastated that they are being forced to take in calories.
It doesn't make sense that a woman who is so excited to have a baby would continue to purge to the point that she has a miscarriage. It doesn't make sense, but it's real. My very favorite moment of the film was when Eli gets weighed, and you see a slight smile on her face when she realizes that she's lost even more weight, but she hides it quickly because she knows she's not supposed to be happy. That to me is the very heart of ED.
I hate when therapy is shown as some magical tool that fixes everyone's problems and cures every one of their mental illnesses forever. If someone goes into therapy with this idea, they are going to be sorely disappointed. In the trailer, Keanu Reeves is portrayed as this mani pixie dream therapist, who saves Eli from herself and tells her exactly how to get her life on track. While some aspects of the therapy here are probably purely cinematic, like the rain room visit, the actual sit down therapy is pretty accurate.
Your therapist isn't going to say things that you like to hear; your therapist is going to challenge you. Therapy is hard work, and sometimes people fight back against it. Also, throughout the film, Eli's stepmother, her real mother, and several others constantly try to pinpoint the one thing that went wrong to cause Eli to have an eating disorder. The movie makes it very clear that there is no one trigger or cause. ED is really complicated and can take years of therapeutic unraveling to understand.
Another thing I was worried about based on the trailer was the introduction of a romantic male love interest. I thought this was going to be another story about a girl who is wasting away until she learns to see herself through the male gaze and finally realizes that she is beautiful. Ugh. However, as the story progresses, you realize that Luke is just as sick as Eli, and he is desperately trying to hold on to her as a toxic tool to help in his own recovery. ED isn't the most romantic thing in the world, and it's hard to truly unselfishly love another person when you are having to be selfish for your own recovery.
My biggest pet peeve with movies revolving around mental illness is when everything is tied up into a neat little bow at the end, and everyone is cured and healthy and happy. Sorry, that's not how life works, and it can be very damaging for someone who has been struggling for years to wonder why that isn't happening for them.
Yes, progress is possible, and yes, change can happen. But people with severe mental illnesses, like eating disorders, will probably deal with it in some form for the rest of their lives. To the Bone is one of the only movies I have seen where I got the sense that everything wasn't nice and neat and complete. We are clearly only in the beginning of Eli's journey, and we understand that there will continue to be setbacks for her and the rest of the group (aka Luke's knee surgery). However, the movie ends with Eli finally accepting treatment, which is one of the very first steps.
In conclusion, I fully understand that my experience with ED is not the experience that everyone has had. I have never had to be put into inpatient treatment, so I cannot speak to the accuracy of that aspect. However, it was nice to see a movie pay real attention to the little details that added so much to the accuracy, and overall, I was very pleased with the film. Maybe we are finally headed towards some accurate representation for mental illness in the media!
You can find To the Bone streaming on Netflix now!
